Engineering Rock Mechanics

(Jacob Rumans) #1

xii Preface


ity for approaching all rock engineering problems. It is important to
realize that engineering flair is only possible if the basic principles and
techniques are understood and implementable.
There are three appendices. Appendix A contains a 3-D stress cube
cut-out which can be copied and made into a model as an aide-memoire.
Appendix B contains a hemispherical projection sheet which can be
copied and used especially for the questions in Chapter 7. Appendix C
contains lWR and Q rock mass classification tables.
Thus, the book serves as an illustrated guide and explanation of the
key rock mechanics principles and techniques for students, teachers,
researchers, clients, consulting engineers and contractors. We mentioned
in the Preface to our first book that rock engineering occurs deep in the
earth, high in the mountains and often in the world’s wildest places.
We engineer with rocks as we create structures, extract the primary
raw materials for mankind and harness the forces of nature. It is the
romance and the passion associated with rock engineering that has led
us to try to communicate some of this excitement. ’Personal experience
is everything’. So, we hope that you will be able to experience some of
the science, art and romance of the subject by understanding and then
implementing the principles and techniques described in this book.
The book contains the tutorial exercises for students who take the
integrated engineering rock mechanics course at Imperial College, Uni-
versity of London, plus many extra examples to ensure that the book is
comprehensive and is suitable for all reader purposes and backgrounds,
whether academic or practical. Because the tutorial exercises have been
incrementally refined, extended and corrected over the years by the rock
mechanics staff and students at Imperial College, it is not possible to
coherently acknowledge the origin of all individual questions. However,
we express our profound appreciation to everyone who has contributed
in different ways to the questions and answers contained herein.
The authors are especially grateful to their wives, Gwen Harrison and
Carol Hudson, for all their support and for helping to improve the style
and accuracy of the text. The final version is, of course, our responsibility.
If there is anything that you do not understand in the following pages, it
is our fault.


J.P Harrison and J.A. Hudson
T.H. Huxley School of Environment, Earth Sciences and Engineering,
Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine,
University of London, SW7 2BP, UK
[email protected]
[email protected]

Our companion first book ”Engineering Rock Mechanics -
An Introduction to the Principles”, also published by Pergamon,
Elsevier Science, will be referred to throughout as “ERM 1”.
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